Incel-Motivated Murder Is Now Officially Terrorism

Back in February, a 17-year-old incel in Toronto fatally stabbed 24-year-old Ashley Arzaga with a machete. As you might expect, this prompted a first-degree murder charge.

Then, we got this:

While it might seem obvious just from the phrase "first-degree murder," not all murder cases are equal under the law. They take into account things like premeditation ("You had 10 notebooks detailing your plans to kill that circus clown."), and crimes that result in death, such as manslaughter ("You driving while intoxicated killed those 10 clowns in that clown car") or terrorism ("ISIS bombed that clown college."), are also treated differently. That's why it's a big deal here to link the incel movement with terrorism. It just hasn't been done before in such a high-profile way.

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It's not like incels are hurting for guys who could've been tried as terrorists. Like In Canada alone, there was Alek Minassian in 2018, who ran people over with a van as "retribution" for years of rejection by women. Taking things back to the United States, Elliot Rodger shot up a sorority because he felt entitled to the attention of attractive women. Minassian is still awaiting trial, and Rodger killed himself before he could face consequences for his actions. These are stories that make international headlines -- they're jarring, they're specific, and the common thread is "involuntary celibacy."

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These terrorists -- usually young, white men -- are acting out with violent, fatal rage meant to inspire terror in women around the globe. That is, at its core, terrorism. It names itself by what it is. It's astonishing (in the right way) that this teenager's actions against Arzaga are being labeled terrorism because it's about time something like this got the label it deserves.

All we can really do here is wait and see how this plays out, and maybe, just maybe, that it saves someone's life in the future.